CUOMO ANNOUNCES NEW MANAGEMENT REFORM WILL IMPROVE AWARDING OF $3 BILLION IN HUD FUNDS

WASHINGTON - Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo today announced a new system of national competitions to award about $3 billion in HUD grants more quickly and efficiently to local and state governments, public housing authorities, non-profit and faith-based groups, and other organizations this year. The new system - part of HUD's management reforms - is one of the first of its kind used by a federal agency.

Previously, HUD has posted 40 different Notices of Funding Availability (NOFAs) - often with 40 different sets of rules - for HUD grant competitions each year.

"Today, we are making the process of getting HUD grants easier, faster and cheaper," Cuomo said. "We are replacing 40 NOFAS with three SuperNOFAS - announcements of broad categories of grants that are open to competition. This is a major improvement that will enable state and local officials , business people, and non-profit groups to spend less time and money filling out forms - and more time and money working toward a shared vision to create jobs, build housing and strengthen their communities."

"The SuperNOFAS are one of a series of sweeping management reforms HUD is implementing under the direction of President Clinton and Vice President Gore to better serve the American people and their communities," Cuomo said. "We are adopting some of the most successful business practices of the last few years to give our stockholders - the American people - greater value for their investment in HUD."

Cuomo announced today that the first of the three HUD SuperNOFAS will make available $1.2 billion for Housing and Community Development programs, including: the HOPE VI program for public housing revitalization, drug elimination grants for public and assisted housing, fair housing initiatives grants, and community development technical assistance programs. The Department expects to announce the additional SuperNOFA competitions - for Economic Development and Empowerment programs, and for Targeted Housing and Homeless Assistance programs - by the end of April.

Through the SuperNOFA grant processes, applicants can now go to one source - the SuperNOFA Information Center - for obtaining application information, copies of program regulations and other information that will help applicants prepare and submit their funding requests, Cuomo said.

The new center may be reached from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, by dialing toll-free 800/HUD-8929 or 800/483-2209 TTY. Additionally, application information will be readily accessible on the Internet at http://www.hud.gov

HUD has also prepared a guidebook for funding applicants, Connecting With Communities, which explains the SuperNOFA process and provides information on all programs for HUD partners at the state and local level, and in non-profit, faith-based and other community organizations.

Each SuperNOFA will provide grant applicants a complete listing or "menu" of HUD competitive funding available in a given year, organized to reflect the way that communities think about addressing problems, rather than how HUD is organized.

In the past, funding notices were published throughout the year with varying rules, timelines, and sets of criteria for evaluation of applications. This fragmentation hindered communities' efforts to plan comprehensively and to devise coordinated, interconnected funding strategies.

The new SuperNOFA standardizes application and selection processes to help make HUD's expectations clearer and the funding process easier for applicants. This process will also enable HUD to move from an organization of separate program offices with isolated programs to one HUD with one mission - to empower people to develop urban communities that provide a suitable living environment for all citizens, Cuomo said.

A basic goal of the SuperNOFA is to make it easier for applicants to coordinate the use of two or more competitive grant programs. By having information about all HUD competitive grant programs that are used to address a single issue area, applicants may gain a better understanding of the multiple resources available to address their needs and opportunities. The process also encourages coordination among applicants - either encouraging two or more organizations to join forces to submit one application to jointly implement funded activities or to submit separate applications for different grants with the intent to coordinate the use of money awarded.

Coordination of grants applications under the SuperNOFA is important because it eliminates duplication of efforts; helps prevent the implementation of conflicting programs by different applicants; enables participating organizations to leverage expertise and resources of other participants - making possible more comprehensive approaches to problems; and fosters collaboration and communication among different organizations working in the same or related fields or neighborhoods.

A listing of HUD funding availability being announced today is attached.

Program Name	Funding Available	Due Date	Submission Location
Community Development Technical Assistance Programs	$82,395,140	June 24, 1998	HUD Headquarters and copies to appropriate CPD field Offices
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Technical Assistance	$5,000,000
Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) Technical Assistance	$42,000,000
HOME Technical Assistance	$31,000,000
Supportive Housing Program (SHP) Technical Assistance	$4,395,140
University and College Programs	$13,500,000	July 8, 1998	HUD Headquarters and Appropriate Field Offices where noted in Programs Section
Community Outreach Partnership Centers (COPCs)	$7,000,000
Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Program	$6,500,000
Fair Housing Initiatives and Assisted Housing Counseling Programs	$29,500,000	June 1, 1998	HUD Headquarters unless only applying for Assisted Housing Counseling
Education and Outreach Initiative (EDI)	$1,000,000
Private Enforcement Initiative (PEI)	$9,300,000
Fair Housing Organizations Initiative (FHDI)	$1,200,000
Housing Counseling Program Local Housing Counseling Agencies ($5,000,000) National Regional and Multi-State Intermediaries ($6,000,000) State Housing Finance Agencies ($7,000,000)	$18,000,000		Appropriate HUD Field Office
Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control Program	$50,000,000	June 1, 1998	HUD Headquarters, Office of Lead Hazard Control
Modernization and Revitalization Programs	$745,762,796	June 29, 1998	HUD Headquarters and copies to appropriate Local HUD Field Office where noted in the Programs Section
Comprehensive Improvement Assistance Program (CIAP)	$304,000,000
HOPE VI Public Housing Revitalization	$441,762,796
Drug Elimination in Public and Assisted Housing Programs	$326,748,934	June 15, 1998	Appropriate local Field Office except if only applying for Drug Elimination Technical Assistance
Public Housing Drug Elimination Program (Including Youth Sports Eligible Activities)	$288,498,934*
Public Housing Drug Elimination Program-New Approaches (Formerly Safe Neighborhood Grant)	$20,000,000
Drug Elimination Grants for Multifamily Low Income Housing	$16,250,000
Public Housing Drug Elimination Program-Technical Assistance	$2,000,000		HUD Headquarters

*This amount includes $44,935,934 in FY 97 funds for applicants not funded in 1997.

Content Archived: January 20, 2009